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How to Write 艘 (sōu) — Meaning “Classifier for ships”

sōu HSK Level 7 15 strokes Radical: 舟

艘 (sōu) means "Classifier for ships" in Chinese. It has 15 strokes with the radical 舟, and is HSK Level 7.

Rated 4.2/5 in difficulty (advanced).

Harder than 85% of HSK Level 7 characters.

Appears in 3+ common words including 一艘船 (yì sōu chuán), 两艘舰 (liǎng sōu jiàn), 艘数 (sōu shù).

Due to its 15 strokes, Hanzi Writer's error detection shows 艘 requires focused practice — most learners need 10+ attempts for consistent accuracy.

Stroke order practice for 艘 - sōu

Practice Writing 艘 (sōu)

Open Hanzi Writer to see the animated stroke order and practice writing 艘 with real-time feedback.

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How to Write 艘

The character 艘 (sōu) is written with 15 strokes. Follow the standard Chinese stroke order: top to bottom, left to right, outside before inside. The radical 舟 is one of its key components.

Practice the correct stroke order with the Hanzi Writer app to see animated stroke-by-stroke guidance with real-time feedback.

What Does sōu (艘) Mean in Chinese?

艘 means Classifier for ships.

As an HSK Level 7 character, 艘 is an intermediate-level character.

Character Data

Character艘
Pinyinsōu (sou)
MeaningClassifier for ships
Strokes15
Radical舟
HSK Level7
Difficulty4.2/5

Origin of 艘

艘 combines the radical 舟 (boat) with 叟 (sǒu, old man), which gives the sound. The ancient form of 舟 depicted a boat's shape, and 叟 adds phonetic value, so the character means 'a vessel' and is used as a classifier for ships.

💡 Memory Tip: Picture an old man (叟) sitting on a boat (舟) counting each ship as 'one 艘, two 艘'.

Common Words with 艘

一艘船 yì sōu chuán
a ship
两艘舰 liǎng sōu jiàn
Two ships
艘数 sōu shù
Number of ships

Example Sentences

海平面上出现了一艘船，正慢慢向港口驶来。

hǎi píng miàn shàng chū xiàn le yì sōu chuán ， zhèng màn màn xiàng gǎng kǒu shǐ lái 。

A ship appeared on the horizon and is slowly sailing toward the port.

那是两艘舰，正在海面上进行协同演习。

nà shì liǎng sōu jiàn ， zhèng zài hǎi miàn shàng jìn xíng xié tóng yǎn xí 。

Those are two warships conducting joint exercises on the sea.

统计船舶的艘数。

tǒng jì chuán bó de sōu shù

Count the number of ships.

Similar Characters Comparison

Character Pinyin Strokes Radical
艘 (current) sōu 15 舟
艄 shāo 13 舟
艅 yú 13 舟
艉 wěi 13 舟
Stroke order practice for 艘 - sōu

Practice Writing 艘 (sōu)

Open Hanzi Writer to see the animated stroke order and practice writing 艘 with real-time feedback.

✨ Animated stroke order · Handwriting recognition · HSK-graded practice · Free to use

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Frequently Asked Questions about 艘

The character 艘 is composed of the radical 舟 (boat) on the left, which hints at its meaning related to ships. The right part 叟 (sǒu, old man) provides the sound and originally meant 'old man', but here it functions purely as a phonetic component.

More HSK Level 7 Characters

伯bó呵hē哎āi哀āi唉āi/ài癌ái艾ài/yì滋zī抚fǔ逸yì昂áng凹āo/wā熬āo/áo奥ào卦guà扒bā/pá芭bā蕾lěi柄bǐng靶bǎ

Characters with Radical 舟

舟zhōu舡chuán舢shān舣yǐ舨bǎn航háng舫fǎng般bān舭bǐ舯zhōng

Other 15-Stroke Characters

䠀tāng僵jiāng僻pì儅dàng儇xuān儋dān凛lǐn劈pī/pǐ劐huō勰xié